Capt fires blank at Badal

Vigilance sleuths inside and slogans of Bole So Nihal outside. On eve of panchayat elections in Punjab, the Tom and Jerry show starring Capt...

Vigilance sleuths inside and slogans of Bole So Nihal outside. On eve of panchayat elections in Punjab, the Tom and Jerry show starring Capt Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal unveiled in its full glory today.

Amarinder finally got his boys to raid a Badal residence, and six hours later they emerged from his Sector 9 residence here stating nothing incriminating had been found. A few kilometres away, Badal sat in his official residence slamming Capt.

The vigil in fact started last night. As news regarding the court permission to search premises owned by Badal and his family filtered in, Akali activists, after some prompting by the leadership, converged towards Badal8217;s residence. Ostensibly to ensure that nothing is planted inside the house, but more so as a show of strength.

So when DIG D.K. Uppal entered House Number 256 carrying a search warrant along with his team of 18, including PWD and engineering staff, he found a restive motley of Akali activists and Badal8217;s nephew Manpreet waiting for them. Slogans escorted them inside the house.

On the contrary, Sector 2, Badal8217;s official residence, seemed deserted, with many senior Akali leaders preferring to remain in the fields canvassing for panchayat polls. Badal sat there, a slip of paper listing his alleged nami and benami properties in hand.

8216;8216;The Punjabi Bagh residence is not mine, and neither are the other residences mentioned in Chandigarh. The Killinawali petrol pump went to my brother during our family division, and the Palampur hatchery has been lying closed for over a decade,8217;8217; he said, adding: 8216;8216;have been in my possession for almost two to three decades now8217;8217;.

But even Badal8217;s trusted lawyers couldn8217;t be contacted. Badal wanted an advocate rushed to the Kharar court to ascertain the legal implications of the search. 8216;8216;The details of my properties are available with I-T people. I file my returns every year,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;Amarinder has stooped very low.8217;8217;

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According to him, the real reason for the search was that 8216;8216;Amarinder is in a tight corner over the defamation case that I filed where he has to prove that I possess assets8217;8217;.

By late afternoon, as reports from other centres did not suggest any raids, the drama started fizzling out. At 5 p.m., as the Vigilance team trickled out of the house, Manpreet flashed papers showing nothing incriminating had been found.

Soon Badal8217;s media adviser came out stating that the first salvo fired by Amarinder had come a cropper. Going by the Vigilance list, there are 15 more to go, in 22 days.